Kyle Busch wins the pole for the Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. He wins the pole with a speed of 138.287 mph. This would be Busch’s first pole of the 2016 season after the pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway was taken away. With the pole being taken away at Atlanta, Kyle was more hesitant about celebrating in post-qualifying interviews, waiting for the car to go through the “room of doom”.
Joe Gibbs Racing continues to show dominance in qualifying. All four Joe Gibbs Racing teams made the final round of qualifying. Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin will start in the next two positions.
In his media availability, Carl Edwards mentioned, “The race is so different from qualifying. After about eight laps long in final practice, we will know who is fast.”
Kyle Busch had an itch of confidence coming into qualifying today. “I wasn’t going out there strutting my stuff like I was going to sit on the pole. I was trying to get a good lap in, get a good effort in, and get a good pit selection. It all transpired into being a really good day though.”
Qualifying went south for Hendrick Motorsports as two of their teams will be switching to backup cars after qualifying. Kasey Kahne posted a blazing lap in the first round of qualifying, but as he was heading back to pit road, the engine was engulfed in smoke. Kahne told Motor Racing Network’s Kim Coon, “Something happened after I shut it off. Something inside the engine. We will have to change engines,” moments after the accident occurred. Jimmie Johnson hit the wall in turn one during the final round of qualifying. He will also go to a backup car. He is not sure what happened going into the first turn. “Not so sure. Definitely a hard hit. We have a very fast racecar, I know my team will bring me a fast race car, at least we have tomorrow to work on it.”
Many notable drivers did not make the final round of qualifying. In the first round, Bowyer (35), Dale Jr. (26), Casey Mears (25), and Danica Patrick (36) failed to make the top 24 to enter the second round. In the second round, Chase Elliott (17), Kevin Harvick (18), and Brad Keselowski (19) failed to make it into the final round
A strong performance was shown from Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebates in qualifying. Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray made it into the final round of qualifying. Both drivers will be starting inside the top 12 on Sunday.
On-track activities resume for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the first of two practices on Fox Sports 1 at 10:30 am.
STARTING LINEUP
1. Kyle Busch
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Kurt Busch
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Matt Kenseth
7. Kyle Larson
8. Martin Truex Jr.
9. Joey Logano
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11. Jamie McMurray
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Greg Biffle
14. Aric Almirola
15. Austin Dillon
16. Paul Menard
17. Chase Elliott
18. Kevin Harvick
19. Brad Keselowski
20. Ryan Newman
21. Trevor Bayne
22. AJ Allmendinger
23. Matt DiBenedetto
24. Kasey Kahne
25. Casey Mears
26. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
27. Landon Cassill
28. Ty Dillon
29. David Ragan
30. Brian Scott
31. Regan Smith
32. Chris Buescher
33. Michael McDowell
34. Cole Whitt
35. Clint Bowyer
36. Danica Patrick
37. Josh Wise
38. Michael Annett
39. Joey Gase
- Busch Sweeps at Bristol - August 20, 2017
- Busch Wins UNOH 200 From Pole - August 17, 2017
- Busch Scores NCWTS Bristol Pole - August 16, 2017